Profile- It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934)

Context

The mid-1930s was the age of the Screwball Comedy. This subgenre places its characters in bizarre situations that compound as the film progresses, typically in a romance-driven narrative.  While some credit Howard Hawk’s Twentieth Century (1934) as the first Screwball comedy, I feel that the style of Twentieth Century is much closer to the Lubitsch/ Cukor comedies of the early years of the decade, and not the later Screwballs.

Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night provided not just the basis for every subsequent Screwball comedy, but for romantic comedy in general. The film’s comedy is forever linked to its unforgettable romance, as nearly every romantic comedy since reminds us.

At the time, Columbia was not a major film studio.  In fact, most people working in the film industry referred to it as a Poverty Row operation.  Frank Capra (1897-1991) had a knack for creating believable, memorable characters. It Happened One Night is not only one of Capra’s funniest and most enjoyable films, but also one of his greatest commercial and critical successes.

Today, we remember Clark Gable (1901-1960) as the iconic, suave, rebel Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming 1939), but before making It Happened One Night, Gable was not the megastar that we think of today.  Getting Gable was actually a stroke of luck for Capra and his relationship with Gable started off rough.  Little did Gable know that the film would shoot him to superstardom.  

Unlike Gable, Claudette Colbert (1903-1996) was already a big box office draw going into It Happened One Night.  She began her career in theater, and her verbal delivery allowed her to transition well into sound films 

Colbert turned out to be quite selective when it came to what she would and would not do in her performance.  Many of the classic moments of the film, came as a result of Colbert refusing to do what was in the screenplay. Her reservations inspired Capra to create the whole Walls of Jericho concept. This little picture had surprised not only the critics, but also the people involved in its production. 

Production went very quickly and smoothly. From the start, the filmmakers had anticipated difficulty with the Production Code due to the innuendo and implied sexuality in the film.  Film content standards were under heated debate at the time.  In 1933, when the National Legion of Decency began, the Hays Office became the Production Code Administration, headed by Joseph Breen.  Capra’s film not only had to pass inspection from these organizations, but from the internal studio censors as well.  Though many see the Production Code as a hindrance, it forced Capra and his contemporaries to become more innovative and resourceful in their telling of a narrative.

Reception

The reviews were overwhelmingly positive.  With these reviews, we begin to see the development of the critical language used to analyze romantic comedies.  Mordaunt Hall of the New York Times called it a “merry romance” and praised the performances of Colbert and Gable, as well as the fast pace of the writing.  Boxoffice Magazine called it “hilarious”, praising Gable’s performance and noting the “Capra technique”, that is, his ability to get at the basic human nature inherent in every situation.  The New Republic said, “Considering its subject, it is better than it has any right to be - better acted, better directed, better written…. The cast was particularly sound from top to bottom”.  Variety said that it “proves two things. A clean story can be funnier than a dirty one and the best way to do a bus story is to make them get out and walk”.  William Troy of The Nation stated, “Among the more gratifying phenomena of the current season has been the growing recognition of It Happened One Night… as one of the few potential classics of the recent cinema”.  From these reviews we see distinct foci: the romance, the performers, the director, and the writing—indicating how the Screwball comedies became more of a collaborative effort than earlier comedies.By the time awards season came around, the film was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing (Adaptation), Best Actor, and Best Actress—winning all five.      

Over 75 years later, the reviews are still mostly positive.  Interestingly, most reviewers still focus on the same aspects of the film as the contemporary reviewers, while some approach the film in the context of an early Capra success.  Martha P. Nochimson of Senses of Cinema called it “Capra’s best film”.  Bret McCabe of the Baltimore City Paper praised the performances, saying it “catches icons Gable and Colbert early enough in their careers where they let themselves be silly”.  Still more reviewers praise the writing.  Sukhdev Sandhu of The Telegraph stated, “it’s still witty and sophisticated today”.  David Jenkins of TimeOut London Magazine said, “Every line of dialogue is calculated bliss”.  Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described it as “buoyant and elegant as bubbles in a glass of champagne”.  A couple reviewers addressed the social taboo that the film violated at the time.  Dennis Schwartz of Ozus’ World Movie Reviews admitted that “In many ways it’s dated, but the comedy still works even if it’s probably not as madcap humorous as when it was first released” and Neil Smith of Total Film Magazine agreed “Tame by today’s standards,” but adding, “it’s worth remembering just how shocking a glimpse of Colbert’s car-halting stocking would have been in Depression-era America”.  Tim Dirks of American Movie Classics Filmsite seems to be the only one to explore the deeper meaning in the film, “The escapist theme of the film, appropriate during the Depression Era”.  He also describes it as “a reversal of the Cinderella story”.  Derek M. Germano of the Cinema Laser summarized the film’s critical success.

Legacy

Capra made It Happened One Night, but It Happened One Night made Capra the standout director that we remember today.  He went on to make many successful films, comedies and dramas alike.  Outside of the motion picture industry, the film inspired many cultural trends as well.  In the hotel scene when Gable undresses, he found it too difficult to remove an undershirt while delivering all his snappy lines.  His solution was to therefore not wear an undershirt.  Consequently, undershirt sales in the United States dropped considerably.  The importance of the bus trip in the film sparked a big interest in more bus travel.

The Screwball Comedy style of the film went on to inspire such comic gems as Howard Hawk’s His Girl Friday (1940), Preston Sturges’ The Lady Eve (1941), The Thin Man series, and George Cukor’s The Philadelphia Story (1940).  It Happened One Night is significant in the study of film comedy not only as a film that has been recognized as one of the greatest screen comedies for nearly 80 years, but also as the only comedy film to win the top five Academy Awards as well as the National Board of Review award for Best Picture—awards for which most comedies were not even nominated.